The details for one of the stain glass windows at my church
Okay, to be honest, I didn’t really pick it. My fiancee did. When we first started talking about getting married, she said that I could choose when we’re “officially” engaged but that we’re getting married on April 10 so I shouldn’t wait until after that to propose. She picked that date (and I completely agree with it) because our church, Trinity Lutheran Church, is awesome during Easter.
The white linens and banners, the lilies all over the altar, the cross, the pulpit, the choir loft, and the streaming sunshine illuminating the stain glassed windows that cover the building – Trinity is perfect in April. It’s not only a national landmark, it’s also a testimony to the German immigrants from Lower Manhattan who emigrated to Astoria in the late 1880s and built their own congregation. It’s a beautiful old building outmatched only by the warmness, openness, and love of the people who worship there. I was a little considered that my fiancee’s family would want us to marry in Florida (where her entire family is pretty much located) but her mom would have none of it. In a church as beautiful as ours, it’s hard to not get married in it.
April 10th will be the Saturday after Easter next year. Besides the liturgical significance of having a wedding during the Easter season, the large amount of flowers and decorations means we will have to spend 0 dollars decorating the ceremony space. Rather than waste time organizing a space to fit our needs, we rather let the space be a character in our wedding in its own natural way. There’s no need to create something to fill a picture – we’d rather let each piece (and our church is a piece of our lives) fit into our wedding celebration. And, after the ceremony, we’ll take all the Easter lilies we bought for the church (10 dollars a plant!) and move them downstairs for the reception. Wham, bam, easy decorations ma’am.